“But WHY are you supporting Obama? My parents said he ___.” “My parents said they didn’t know what the Charter Amendments were, so they just voted no.” Half a dozen 15 to 17 year-old girls stayed here last night. They grilled me about politics. They were armed with misinformation but eager to discuss issues, ideas […]
Gallaher View – “Stay in your lane or stay off this road.” West Town mall stairwells – “Do NOT urinate in stairwells. Moron.” Nubbin Ridge – “No joggers. Ever.” unisex bathrooms – “No quickies when other people are waiting for restroom.” & “Bathroom NOT soundproof.” Everywhere else – “No spitting on sidewalk. Yuck.”
Children need to believe in themselves and the power of education BEFORE they leave elementary school. PTA/PTO groups should make that their focus. Outside groups need to make it their focus, too. There should be groups specifically targeting the children of incarcerated parents that instill in children the belief that they do not have to […]
“Pick on Farragut” Objective: Blame Farragut for anything you don’t like about Knoxville. Examples: “Farragut caused urban sprawl.” “Farragut made the downtown a service center for the homeless.” “Farragut caused my child to be zoned out of the school in our neighborhood.” How to play: Whenever possible, toss out verbal daggers that criticize Farragut. Counter […]
After a summer of being a quiet background hum, this week the cicadas cranked up their volume to eleven. That probably means they have doubled their population and are now invading homes, like a bad horror movie. I like to believe that they are just telling us goodbye as they vanish for the winter. I […]
It had been a long time since I took a vacation, but as a child we used to visit the beach every other year. I would always sit on the shore and collect shells. Piles and piles of shells that I would then reduce to one small bucket of favorites. Last week, I sat in […]
Of all yesterday’s speakers, the only thing more entertaining than the students, was a doctor at LMU‘s new medical school. He talked about the school’s mission to teach medicine to the people of Appalachia so that they could return to their communities with the skills to help. The doctor was eloquent and passionate and if […]
… one of the only restaurants in town has no regular milk in the kitchen (“would the babies like some buttermilk?”) and everything on the menu, except the coleslaw (vinegar or mayo) is deep fried.
This is the landscape in the Natchez Trace area of middle TN. Trees and fields everywhere you look. In another season, there would be crops of feed corn here and there, but it’s still exactly as I remembered it. Trees and fields. The twisty 2 lane back roads still show the daily tractor abuse and […]